


Dona Eis Requiem

by Rinkafic



Series: Misc Fanfic [5]
Category: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-10
Updated: 2012-08-10
Packaged: 2017-11-11 20:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/482704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rinkafic/pseuds/Rinkafic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Done for Kink Bingo fill "Penance/Punishment"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dona Eis Requiem

When he was a small boy in the village of Cheesefoot, Colin had never given much thought to what his future life would be like. He thought he would plod along as everyone else did, putting one foot in front of the other until his foot happened to slip into the grave and he inevitably followed it.

But his mother thought differently. Declaring him the laziest of the nine children she had borne, having grown weary of having him underfoot, and despairing of his ever finding a wife, she had declared that he was for the church and booted him out of the house with nothing but the clothes on his back. With no other options, Colin took to the road and went to the Monastery of Saint Melvin, who was quite an obscure saint. He arrived at their door hungry and with very sore feet.

After a short audition at the gates of the monastery, where he was made to sing to prove he was worthy, he was welcomed and taken in by the brothers. (Though Brother Simon had declared his sheep herding song quite pedestrian and unmemorable)

And thus, Colin became Brother Colin, a monk of Saint Melvin.

The food was actually better than Colin was used to. His mother had been a fairly awful cook, her claim to fame was pig snout stew, which as one could imagine was not very filling in a house with nine children. He had to share a cell with Brother Wensleydale, who smelled like cheese, but even that was better than sharing a bed with his flatulent brothers Richard, Thomas, Hugh and Agnes. (At least he thought Agnes was one of his brothers, he could never be certain, and Agnes would never say one way or the other.)

Colin liked the food, and he liked his bed, he couldn’t really complain about his new life with the monks. Not that he was allowed to complain, mind you, because like most of the new brothers, he took a vow of silence. The only time he could use his voice for the first three months was if he was chanting or praying. Colin decided that the reason why monks sang so much was because they were bored of being silent. He hadn’t been paying much attention to Abbot Ableforth and had missed the part about offering silence up to God. There had been a squirrel outside the window and Colin had been watching it rather than listening during his lessons in being a monk. He learned about offering his suffering up to God later.

He was taught the chants, songs and prayers preferred by Saint Melvin. Little by little, Colin adapted to his new life. He prayed often for his family, and his mother.

Then came the day when Abbot Ableforth declared they were going to process through the town. Colin wondered why everyone was excited, but because he still had a month left of his three months of silence, he couldn’t ask, as he did not yet know a song to phrase the question, “What’s going on?”

He joined the others as they formed lines of two outside the doors of the chapel. Brother Hugh and Brother Stephen distributed wooden boards to each monk. Straightening his hood, Colin held his board and ran a hand over the smooth surface. There was a slight indent on the board and he wondered idly why it was there as he brushed his fingers over it.

“We offer this procession up for the sins of the world. We beseech the lord to forgive and to bless his children, may our pains wash away the stain of sin. Take up your boards, brothers,” Abbot Ableforth directed. “Brother Justinian, will you lead us?”

“Pie Jesu Domine,” Brother Justinian sang out in his clear, high voice as he began leading the procession towards the gate of the monastery.

“Dona eis requiem,” responded the other brothers. Then, in unison, they struck their foreheads with the boards held firmly in their hands. The resounding thud was so loud, surely it would draw God’s attention.

The next time Brother Justinian sang “Pie Jesu Domine,” Colin was ready. He responded with the others and raised his board. His timing was slightly off the first time, but by the third repetition, when they had reached the mill a few doors down from the monastery, he had the rhythm. Even Brother Simon, walking beside him, could not complain about his form by the time they reached the center of town.

Colin figured out fairly early that he needed to pace himself and not use a tremendous amount of force when striking himself with the board, else he would knock himself senseless and not be able to continue the holy procession. He very much wanted to continue. They circled the well at the center of town, though Colin was only aware of the board in his hands and the hem of Brother Sebastian’s robe trailing the ground in front of him, as he was keeping his eyes focused on the board. Colin began to imagine that the board was the hand of God, meting out punishment.

There were not many things Colin could do to improve the world. But this, he could do. He could suffer for others, he could offer his pain as a prayer. It made him happy, this procession. As his forehead began to throb, it served as a reminder of all the pains of the world, and because he was feeling it, he felt as if he was finally part of the world and giving back to it.

His breath hitched in his throat each time he heard Brother Justinian chant, “Pie Jesu Domine.”

His fingers would tighten on the edge of his board as he would respond with his brothers, “Dona eis requiem.”

Colin lost himself in the procession, the chant became all he heard, the board all he saw, the thud against his forehead all he felt. His focus became his prayer as he did penance for the world. And his heart was full of joy, for Colin had finally found a purpose to his life.

 

The End


End file.
